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4.75 from 82 votes

Detroit Style Pizza

This Detroit-Style Pepperoni Pizza has a thick, delicious yeasted crust.It’s topped with the perfect amount of sauce, melty cheesy and a blanket ofpepperoni cups. And while most recipes require a 24-hour ferment, this recipetakes a fraction of the time! 
Prep Time1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Rise Time1 hour
Total Time2 hours 45 minutes
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American, Italian
Servings: 6
Cost: $12

Ingredients

Pizza Dough:

  • Olive oil (for pan, dough and stretching)
  • 2 1/4 (270 grams) cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 3/4 (6 ounces) cups warm water

Topping:

  • 3 ounces aged provolone cubed
  • 8 ounces shredded mozzarella
  • 1/2 cup pizza sauce
  • 5 ounces pepperoni cups

Instructions

To Make the Pizza Dough:

  • Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a 9x13-inch baking pan. The darker the aluminum, the better. This will give you a better crust.
  • In a bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, salt and instant yeast.
  • Pour in the warm water and 1 tablespoon olive oil and mix again. The dough will be pretty wet and that’s ok!
  • This is a different type of pizza dough; it will be kinda wet so don't sweat that too much. Just knead it up or mix it up until it becomes cohesive.
  • Dip your fingers into the olive oil from the pan and transfer the dough to the greased baking pan. Dimple the dough using your fingers. We’re going to do this every 15 minutes until it reaches the edges. We have to stretch the dough slowly to ensure zero ripping of the dough. Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and allow to rise in draft-free place in your kitchen/house and set a timer for 15 minutes.
  • Return to the dough and remove the plastic wrap/towel and dimple the dough once more, spreading it close to the edges of the pan--it should be about half way to the edges by now. Cover once more and set another timer for 15 minutes.
  • Return to the dough and dimple and stretch the dough, using extra olive oil on your hands as needed, until it reaches the edges and corners of the pan. Cover the pan and set a timer for 1 hour. This is the last rise required!

To Assemble and Bake the Pizza:

  • Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
  • Uncover the dough and spread the pizza sauce on top of the pizza dough, smoothing it out until it reaches the edges. This pizza doesn’t really have a crust exterior so be sure to take it to the edges too.
  • Top it with the cubed provolone (if using) and sprinkle with mozzarella. I like to add some cubes of the aged provolone close to the edge of the pan so it gets all crispy.
  • Add the pepperoni cups on top and be sure to place them overlapping and very close together. It should look like a blanket of pepperoni.
  • Transfer to the oven and bake for 7 minutes, rotate the pan 180 degrees. And then bake for an additional 7 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the cheese is all melty and bubbling.
  • Allow to cool for about 5 minutes and then transfer to a large cutting board. Slice it up with a sharp knife and serve!

Notes

Tips and Tricks 
  • Dough Sticky? - If your fingers are sticking to the dough, you can just lightly grease them with some olive oil and it’ll be stick-free! 
  • Special Pan - A lot of Detroit-Style Pizzas are made in a special pan. I didn’t buy a special pan but I do think that a dark-colored 9x13-inch baking pan works better than a lighter colored. I linked to a dark 9x13-inch pan. Glass baking dishes *WILL NOT* work for this recipe. They don't conduct enough heat fast enough and hot enough to cook the crust properly. 
  • Cheese! - You really want to put the cheese and sauce all the way to the edge of the pan. This cheese, gets baked onto the crust, resulting in the BEST tasting crust edges. 
  • I used cubed aged provolone that I found at my local Italian market, but if you can’t find, no worries, just replace it with more mozzarella. 
  • Pepperoni - For pepperoni cups, you want pepperoni that's sliced on the thicker side. My friend Billy suggests the pepperoni from the 365 Whole Foods Brand. For this recipe, I used the Hormel Pepperoni Cups. I found them at my local grocery store. I thought they were wonderful.
  • Pizza Sauce - For the pizza sauce, I used the Rao's Brand pizza sauce and it was delicious! 
Equipment: 
Dark 9x13-inch baking pan | Stainless-Steel Bowls Box Cheese Grater | Measuring Cups | Measuring Spoons | Cutting Boards

Nutrition

Serving: 8g | Calories: 340kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 290mg | Potassium: 3mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 34IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 264mg